People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Saria glanced at her friend, whose expression was rather unpleasant, with some surprise:

"What's that in your hand?"

“Data,” Christen replied, “data from the entire process of Project Star.”

The data from this entire process naturally includes the second-hand version of the recording.

The communicator is played aloud.

The Dome Research Station is her territory, and the Tower of Babel used for experiments was built under her supervision. As a scientist who doesn't want to miss any information that might be related to the extraterrestrial world, how could she not make the corresponding preparations?

The preliminary experiments for Project Star Reaching were conducted no less than a hundred times before the conclusion was reached that Originium lifeforms could penetrate the isolation layer! That involved hundreds of complete experiments!

During this time, Muirsey was angered because Christen requisitioned all the Originium Plants she had carefully cultivated after the Balrog Project. Nasty was also surprised by Christen's precise grasp of the limits of electromagnetic interference from the isolation layer when she was in charge of installing the Tower of Babel's elevator.

This is not surprising, because she did almost the same thing a hundred times. She abandoned countless Originium plants that broke through the isolation layer and shattered outside, as well as countless photography and data collection devices that were damaged because they were too close to the interference range.

With this experience, she was able to install surveillance and recording equipment at every extreme limit to obtain all information, including recordings that had been played publicly inside the Tower of Babel.

Of course, that's not all.

Information contaminated by evil spirits must be forcibly deleted. Christensen is by no means a reckless person. Even if she really wants to soar to the sky, she will prepare a "coffin" for herself in advance.

Therefore, after regaining consciousness that day, even though she was unwilling, Christensen had no choice but to delete the videos and recordings from inside the Tower of Babel from the moment Safar came into contact with the isolation layer until Ernst and the others arrived and defeated Safar, all in front of Kal'tsit.

This cannot be faked. Kal'tsit is not stupid, nor is Typhon. Information contaminated by demons will produce things like garbled text, incorrect word order, and incomprehensible emoji symbols, which can be seen at a glance.

But Christensen still managed to get her hands on a second-hand recording.

It wasn't because she recovered the deleted file, but because that file hadn't even been scheduled for destruction in the first place.

She had a secret weapon: a recording of Kal'tsit and Typhon cleaning the building after the matter was resolved.

"Oh right, I found this thing while disinfecting in front of the top-floor corridor. It was still making noises repeatedly, and since I thought it was still usable, I disinfected it and brought it back."

These were Typhon's exact words, and it was upon hearing them that Christensen suddenly realized that although the original recording was already in Ernst's hands, and the file recording the scene of Safar hearing the recording for the first time had been deleted, there was still one file that existed: the recording that Typhon played during the disinfection, which had been second-hand recorded!

Christen suddenly remembered a Colombian joke.

—If I die, before I die, I must completely format my phone and make sure no one can see my browsing history!

It's just a joke, but browsing history is something you can never completely delete.

Modern society is characterized by the constant and unnoticed leakage of information.

"Thank you, Saria."

Christensen suddenly thanked her.

Saria asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's there to thank me for?"

Christensen smiled slightly:

"Without you, I probably wouldn't have been able to leave Shelag so easily."

Ernst was a meticulous and observant person. He might not have realized something was wrong on the spot, but given time, it was hard to say he wouldn't have noticed something. As for Kal'tsit, although Kristen hadn't had much contact with her, her intuition told her that she wasn't someone who could be easily fooled.

To hide something under the noses of these two, the biggest taboo is not poor acting skills or careless attention to detail, but rather four words: "the longer you wait, the more things may go wrong!"

"What have you done to me this time?"

Saria raised an eyebrow and asked with some suspicion.

Christensen smiled slightly and did not intend to say anything.

If all goes well, once she returns to Colombia with the recording, she can immediately spend a large sum of money to recruit all the linguists in the country to translate the recording!

What? Where did the huge sum of money come from?

It's okay, everything will be fine as long as Justin initiates the remittance.

However, as everyone knows, it is absolutely impossible for nothing to happen on Terra without an accident.

The next second, Saria slammed on the brakes, giving Christensen a taste of the feeling of weightlessness and being thrown out.

She pulled the handbrake, glanced at Christensen in the passenger seat, who was still gripping the seatbelt in shock, and said coldly:

"Kristen, what are you up to now?"

"I knew something was off about you this time. You've never been so quick to back down before."

Saria clicked her tongue.

"I even thought you might be... tsk, you're really overthinking it! Tell me! This time, I won't let you fool me anymore!"

Christen blinked, clearly not expecting Saria to react so strongly.

It's just that she secretly took a document with her. Saria didn't even know what it was. Is it really that big of a deal?

When did you two become so close? You've only met a few times.

This is the pitfall of genius.

In Christensen's eyes, Seria and Ernst were at best friends, because she never really cared about Rhine Life.

As for Seria, she diligently cleaned up the messes for Rhine Lab for several years, and last year and this year she took over the company from Christensen, who was a hands-off manager. Her love for Rhine Lab can only be described in one sentence: great, no words needed!

Ernst, on the other hand, was someone who had saved Rhine's life once.

While Christensen was still watching the giant beasts baring their teeth in Sherag, Ernst was fighting alongside them in the Balrog Project, confronting the military, fighting the Balrogs, bringing in Vice President Wilson, blocking the terrifying pink-haired Sarkaz, and protecting Rhine Life!

Seria owes Ernst a favor.

As Christensen's close friend, she knew very well that Christensen often lacked consideration for human relationships in her actions.

Therefore, she had to remind Christensen that they absolutely could not let Ernst down!

"Hey! Saria, listen to me, it's really nothing, can we make up?"

"reconciliation?"

Seeing that Kristen wouldn't explain clearly, Saria simply said directly:

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll drive back to Sherag and ask Ernst and the others.”

Christen opened her mouth. For decades, she suddenly realized that she was weak, pitiful, and helpless in front of this Vaiva.

Without an office to arm Seria, and without Gerlag Ernst to mediate, she seemed truly helpless against Seria.

With a slightly aggrieved sigh, Christen handed the USB drive to Saria.

"This is it."

“There’s a recording inside that Ernst, Levy, and I couldn’t translate, so I want to take it back to Colombia.”

"Ernst agreed?" Seria went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Of course...no."

"Then it must not be made public, and sharing it privately is also prohibited."

Seria said, and immediately put the recording away.

“Protecting our partners’ privacy is our responsibility. Manager, you should go back and read Rhine Life’s employee handbook.”

Christensen looked somewhat bewildered.

Who am I, where am I, and what am I going to do?

Why would I open champagne at halftime if I have nothing to do?

And Saria, you with thick eyebrows and big eyes, how did you also betray the revolution?

Fortunately, this process did not last too long.

Just a few days later, when Rhine Life's convoy arrived near Colombia, Kristen received an email after connecting to the nearby intercity network.

To [Kristen]

From [Scientific Research Institute - Mariam (Don't call her Mary while working)]

Attachment: [Unknown Signal]

[The research team's base station, located in the suburbs, received a set of unknown signals. The signals appeared almost simultaneously with the satellite acquisition operation, and reappeared two days later at the same frequency. The research team is trying to track them, but the equipment we currently have is unable to pinpoint their location accurately.]

[Rhine Labs doesn't even have anyone in charge anymore? Where did you and Saria go? I came back to apply for equipment and funding, and I actually have to submit a report to Ferdinand? Good heavens, is this for real? Has Rhine Labs been swallowed up by that kid?]

If you are still alive, please return quickly, otherwise I will regretfully lose the signal.

[P.S.: Remember to approve funding and equipment.]

P.S.: I've been covering a lot lately, including the Flying Ones and the Preservers in Rhine, the Duke and Lontinim in Victoria, the behemoths in Flame, the follow-up to Project Star-Picking, and the preview for the World Summit, among other things. So, the scene transitions might be a bit frequent. Some readers have commented that it's been padded out, which I regret and apologize for. I learned my lesson the hard way with the Ers arc by not explaining the backstory clearly, so I'm trying to be as detailed as possible in every part. Plus, my hand is hurting, so updates will be slower. Please bear with me.

Chapter 345 The Preserver's Prayer

Tremont, Columbia.

Rhine Life Sciences, a research and development company unique to Colombia, has ten departments, which are organized into five research departments and four administrative departments.

The administrative department goes without saying: the business department, defense department, engineering department, and human resources assessment department cover the basic business required for the normal operation of a large enterprise.

The core of Rhine Lab is, of course, its five major research departments: Structural Science, Energy Science, Originium Life Science, Ecology Science, and Scientific Research Science.

Yes, although it may seem counterintuitive, the Scientific Research Department, or the Scientific Expedition Department, is actually part of the Scientific Research Department. Rhine Lab, or rather the entire Terra, seems to have accepted that scientific research is not only something you can learn by climbing the technology tree, but also something you can do by "finding the dragon and dividing the gold by looking at the winding mountains, each winding mountain is a barrier," digging into the ground with a Luoyang shovel and getting rich through archaeology.

As one of the most advanced large-scale enterprises in Colombia, and even in this region, Rhine Life Sciences has an entry threshold that is undoubtedly daunting to most.

It's no exaggeration to say that at Rhine Life, if you call out "Doctor," 99 out of 100 people in a large hall will turn around. The remaining person who doesn't might be called to the Human Resources Department for an interview with Ms. Yara the next day because they entered with their left foot. The scene is just like walking down the street and shouting "Zhang Wei!"

However, even with such strict standards, there are still "exceptions".

Yes, it's still a scientific research department.

The head of the research department, Mariam, did not restrict the educational background of his staff in the recruitment requirements, but valued "practical experience" more. In other words, he was not interested in college students who were pure and innocent, but preferred "professionals" in the industry.

As for whether your major is a good major or a bad major, he doesn't care that much.

This undoubtedly gave many [Digging Craftsmen] some hope. There has always been a rumor circulating that Rhine Lab's Research Division is the headquarters of Terra's tomb raiders and tomb robbers.

But this is of course just a rumor.

Director Mariam advocated for "making the most of resources," but he wasn't without limits. Most of his subordinates were normal people with an exploratory spirit, like Magellan. But this didn't prevent him from becoming a target of Ferdinand's attacks.

Why didn't you approve Mariam's application for funding and equipment?

Upon returning to Rhine Life, Kristen immediately summoned Ferdinand and questioned him with considerable dissatisfaction.

Ferdinand's answer was very honest and he had a clear conscience:

“Kristen, the scientific expedition team has not made any progress for a long time, but the expenses are increasing year by year. The areas they explore require specially customized equipment, which is almost all disposable. It is simply an unprofitable investment. Many times, I suspect that we are just spending money to fund Mariam to play his wilderness survival games in various places in Terra.”

He curled his lip, looked at Christensen, and even dared to directly criticize her to her face:

“I know what you’re going to say, ‘Scientific results take time to produce and verify,’ right? Hmph, if it were before, Rhine Lab wouldn’t have been unable to provide Mariam with this not-so-large expense. But, Christensen, this is all your fault!”

“Blame me?” Christensen was slightly taken aback.

Ferdinand nodded affirmatively and with dignity:

"It's all your fault! Because of the mess you made in Kjerag, Rhine Lab is now in complete chaos."

Christen retorted, "But I heard Justin say that Rhine Life doesn't lack funds right now; we have many new investors."

Ferdinand sneered:

"Yes, we don't lack money, but we lack manpower."

"The head of the research department, except for Palvis and me, all went to Shelag. The head of the administrative department, except for Justin Jr. and Yara, also went to Shelag. There are almost fewer people at Rhine Lab headquarters than at Shelag. All departments are basically at a standstill. The backlog of things is higher than a mountain. At this time, instead of sorting out the internal issues, you still want to keep throwing money into new projects?"

"I dare say this is a losing proposition!"

Ferdinand's point was not entirely without merit.

Money alone is useless; even the largest sum of money needs people who know how to use it. Rhine Labs is currently in internal chaos, with almost every department contributing to Christensen's Star-Picking Project. The most urgent task should be to restore order.

Otherwise, it's like a brain-dead person with poor coordination holding money, only wasting it.

There are examples of this. A certain group known for its internal divisions and numerous factions claimed to have received 300 million yen in investment from Fujiko F. Kyo, but the result was not only unsatisfactory to everyone, but also unsatisfactory to everyone.

Their producer's most famous statement was, "I have plenty of time, resources, and players to keep me occupied."

It's clear that there's still too much money, to the point that even a child with cerebral palsy can have this kind of confidence.

“Kristen, if you really don’t want to do this anymore, you can just hand over the position of governor to me. I can straighten everything out in a few months.”